‘Lack of time’ leads to Pasigarbo glitches

CEBU, Philippines — No sabotage. Just lack of time.

This is what the person in-charge of the audio and video presentations of the Pasigarbo sa Sugbo (PSS) 2023 ritual showdown held in Carcar City, Cebu claimed as the cause of the technical glitches that plagued the event last Aug. 27.

The glitches got Cebu Gov. so miffed she had the presentations stopped momentarily so she could tell the judges to ignore the mistakes caused by the problem.

She also scolded Alberca Sounds and Lights Rental in front of everyone and raised the possibility of the event being sabotaged.

Yesterday, Jahbert Saba, the visual operator under MDF Productions, explained in his Facebook post his side of the story. He said Alberca is not the one to blame and people should stop maligning the company.

“Ang mga technical glitches sa audio and video ug ang pagsulbad niana, sa akoa na naka tahas, isip Visual Operator sa PSS2023. Apan sa kakulangan sa oras, nahitabo gyud siya," read his post.

"Dili tungod kay nagkulang ko sa akong expertise, dili tungod nga gituyo to nako, or sa ilang giingon nga sabotahe, kundi nagkulang gyud mi sa Time,” he said.

He said he has no reason to sabotage the event as his job as visual operator is his passion and it is a source of pride for him as a visual artist for the even to conclude successfully.

“Dili nako irisgo nga yabohon ang event para lang anang ilang giingon nga Sabotahe, kay mao ni Bread and Butter namo, mao ni nag buhi sa among isig ka pamilya,” he said in his post.

Saba narrated that he and the head of MDF Productions have had several meetings for the PSS 2023. He said that as part of the production process it was already planned when to start and execute the related task, depending on their field of assignment.

He said it was scheduled that everything should be ready, including lights, sounds, LED wall, and the stage, at 8 p.m. on Aug. 24, so that all the 50 contingents can start their stage rehearsal with sounds, lights and LED wall display starting at midnight of Aug. 25.

“Para makita namo ahead of time kung unsay mga kulang, mga adjustments sa ilang visuals or sa ilang lights,” he said.

Saba said it was already scheduled that every contingent had one hour of rehearsal, or a 50-hour continuous use of the sounds, lights and LED wall, so that by 2 a.m. of August 27, event day, all rehearsals are done.

He said that the remaining hours left prior to the start of the event would be dedicated to those assigned to the technical aspects, for them to check the presentation and program flow and do a run through for the national anthem, Sugbo hymn, inserted audio-visual presentations from the Capitol Public Information Office, and any other information like QR codes.

Saba also said that all the videos submitted by the contingents needed to be rendered into a "Resolume compatibility" format and that this takes time, especially that each needed to be big files.

“Gilatad na na namo tanan sa software nga what we call Resolume. But unfortunately wala na sunod ang tanang giplano tungod sa mga last minute changes sa Set-up ug na hutdan na mi ug oras,” he said.

On particular cause of delay was the stage being moved to another area of the venue when everything was done already, as the LED wall, along with the wiring and other setups, had to be taken town and then reassembled.

Saba said there were also contingents that submitted their videos as late as Aug. 27, or the day of the event already.

“Naay uban gi apas nalang kay naay mga sayup sa video, naay uban wrong sizing, naay puy uban putol ang video, nga dili gyud pwede ibutang sa Resolume kay maguba gyud ang display," he said.

"Naay uban naka submit na unta, pero mag submit nasad silag lain kay naa daw sayup sa spelling or naay gi ilis sa ilang visuals. So idelete nasad namo ilang converted video and mag load nasad ug bag-o,” he added.

He said that including each of the mayor's video, they had to render a total of 100 videos.

"Mao bitaw naay contingent blocking schedule, kay ang remaining time e exclusive for technical rehearsal kay diha man na ipang review tanang video ug ipang latag na sa Resolume. Kay bisag na convert nana nimo siya sa Resolume compatibility, imo pana siya ipa buffer tanan sud sa resolume para ma recognize sa software ang mga videos ug para pud maka multi-task ug tarong ang Resolume, which would take aprrox 5-7 hours,”Saba said.

“Sa sulod anang mga orasa dapat dili nana hilabtan ang resolume para maka buffer ug tarung. Kung wala naka buffer si Resolume naa gyuy dakong possibility nga mag malfunction/glitches. Inig play nimo sa AVP, naay ma wala ang audio or na putol ang display kay ang mga ubang videos nga naka buffer pa, maoy naka  interrupt sa display,” he further said.

He said the glitches started around 3 p.m., when they were still converting the videos together with the inserted corrections to "Resolume compatibility."

“Nag start ang program alas 6 sa hapon ug nag sige pag buffer ang ubang mga videos,” he said.

Saba said all videos were already re-rendered but it also took time to recopy the per contingent's file, which averaged around 20 gigabyte in size, for the secondary back-up.

“Wala ma transfer ang mga final videos nga converted na into Resolume Compatibility, kay nahutdan na mi sa oras. Mao bitaw, ibalik napud nako. Nga amo gyud nang idedicate unta ang after mahuman ang blocking schedule para sa technical Run through/ Program Run Through. But unfortunately wala na mugna,” he said.

After his explanation, Saba apologized to the governor over what happened.

“Unta humukon imong kasing2x Gov ug tagaan mi nimog pagsabot nga wala sa among intention ang mga kakulian kabahin sa technikal nga aspeto sa Pasigarbo. Tungod lang gyud to sa kakulang sa panahon ug daghang kausaban,” he said. — (FREEMAN)